Former football player of Russian national team, the defender of Petersburg “Zenith” Igor Smolnikov has signed a contract with FC “Krasnodar”. According to “RG”, we are talking about a two-year agreement with the possibility of extension for another year.
As it became known after yesterday’s finals of the Russian Cup in Yekaterinburg, in which “Zenith” has won with the score 1:0 and became the winner of the trophy, Smolnikov (he entered the field late in the game) said goodbye to their partners. Interestingly, this match was Igor jubilee – in the blue-white-blue he played exactly 200 times in seven years of playing for the team. The team bulls player went as a free agent at the end of the contract.
both clubs have announced that they will talk about personnel changes in the coming days, as soon as Russia opens the transfer window.
this season, Smolnikov has played for Zenit 19 matches in all competitions, scored one goal and made two assists. He received gold medals for the championship in the HRC and the victory in the Cup of Russia.
incidentally, a graduate of the capital “Locomotive” (in the beginning of the sports career he played for “Moscow “torpedo”, “Ural”, “Chita”, “Pearl-Sochi” and “Rostov”) in the 2012/2013 season played for FC Krasnodar. Here he is very clearly manifested itself and was sold to Zenit in August 2013.
8 Aug Igor Smolnikova will be 32 years. In national team he played 29 matches and was a member of the European championship 2016 in France, FIFA confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 world Cup in Russia.
According to experts, Smolnikov clearly strengthen the composition of the Kuban, which very soon will start in the championship and participation in the qualifying tournament for the right to enter the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. To that in Krasnodar there is a clear shortage of wide defenders (and Igor is able to act on both flanks): they are, in principle, all but two remain – Sergei Petrov and the Ecuadorian Christian Ramirez, which, they say, also very interested in the subject in Monaco.
